


Realizations And Happy Endings

by afteriwake



Category: Bleach
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-15
Updated: 2012-10-15
Packaged: 2017-11-16 08:42:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/537596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, something good can come out of a life-or-death fight.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Realizations And Happy Endings

**Author's Note:**

> Answering a claim at **1sentence**. The premise of this fic is that his training has gone on for little while and they've become friendly and Tsukishima's come after everyone in the Xcution arc, so it went AU before Ginjou's true involvement was made known. Also, for the God prompt, shinigami is often translated as “death god,” so I believe it fits.

**#01 – Motion**

He's there to catch her when she falls after Tsukishima's attack, based on the grounds that Orihime can throw down a shield and Chad's pretty much got inhuman strength; she doesn't, so he goes to save her, moving quicker than he ever had as a human before and getting her before she lands to her death.

**#02 – Cool**

She's passed out, and cool to the touch; something Tsukishima did to her...she's cool, too cool, and cooling down even more, and he knew this wasn't good.

**#03 – Young**

Riruka looks so young without the hat, which fell off at some point during the fight, and her hair around her shoulders and her make-up smudged and smeared, so young that she doesn't appear to be any older than he is (whether she actually _is_ or not, he's never asked).

**#04 – Last**

She's the last one to fall, the last one to get injured, and for once he's not the savior in the fight, since Urahara and Tessai and Ururu and Jinta have come to the rescue, so he can run, take her to safety, get her help.

**#05 – Wrong**

He thinks whatever her injury is isn't serious but he's wrong, and he realizes it when he feels blood seeping between her shirt and his, but he won't pull her away from him to find out just how bad it is, he just keeps running.

**#06 – Gentle**

He's trying to be as gentle as he can, not to hurt her anymore than she's already been hurt, and still get her to the clinic swiftly; he prays his father didn't follow Urahara into the fight so he can save her life.

**#07 – One**

She had believed he'd be the one to take down Tsukishima, and he would have if she hadn't gotten hurt; over the course of his training he'd formed a special relationship with her and in the fight he'd singled her out as the one to keep an eye on, to protect if needed.

**#08 – Thousand**

A thousand thoughts swarm around his head as he keeps her close, a thousand dire situations, a thousand regrets...and they all stop when she said his name weakly.

**#09 – King**

“I almost feel like a queen, and you're the king who rescues me,” she says, quietly, clinging to him just a little more.

**#10 – Learn**

“Didn't you learn it was a prince and a princess, not a king and a queen?” he says, knowing it's a stupid thing to argue but he has to say it.

**#11 – Blur**

She smiles at him and gets colder, and everything from that point on until his father takes her from his arms at the door of the exam room is a blur.

**#12 – Wait**

His father won't let him in to help and tells him to go back and help his friends, and he waits for a few moments to hear that she's not dead before he leaves again, now wanting more than ever to seriously maim and perhaps even kill Tsukishima.

**#13 – Change**

There's a change in his demeanor, this new Ichigo that is sick and tired of watching his friend get injured, and thoughts of her smile make the slow quiet rage he feels towards his enemy boil over.

**#14 – Command**

It isn't a long fight; he gets there, he gets it done, taking charge like he used to, in the old days, and he makes sure Tsukishima's done for before he runs back to the clinic, finally getting winded.

**#15 – Hold**

She's sleeping, and Ichigo knows sooner or later Ginjou and the other members of Xcution are going to come by and see her, but for now he just needs to hold her hand, and hes happy that it's warm against his own hand.

**#16 - Need**

He didn't know when this need had taken over, this need to protect her, but once her powers and all the others had been transferred to him and he'd regained his shinigami powers and Orihime had proved once and for all that she could take care of herself, his need to protect someone had transferred over to Riruka.

**#17 - Vision**

She opens her eyes and squints at him and he has to smile slightly, because he knows her vision is awful and she can probably barely see him, but the small smile on her face lets him know she knows it's him next to her.

**#18 – Attention**

“So I just needed to get stabbed to get your attention?” she says, the small smile becoming a slight smirk.

**#19 – Soul**

Deep in his soul he understood that she was going to be like this with him for the rest of the time they knew each other, sarcastic and smart and special to him.

**#20 – Picture**

“Yeah, well, it'll make for a change in pick-up lines,” he says with a grin, and the smile that blooms on her face...well, he wants a picture of it to show her what a gorgeous smile she has.

**#21 – Fool**

“I was an idiot for not seeing you like that,” he adds, sobering up slightly.

**#22 – Mad**

“Well, I was mad at you for a while, but that's because I thought you liked Inoue more,” she says, before adding, “I'm sorry.”

**#23 – Child**

He feels like a child who did something wrong and blamed someone else and they got in trouble, a bit guilty and a bit stupid.

**#24 – Now**

“Well, you know I like you now, right?” he asks, holding her hand a little more tightly.

**#25 – Shadow**

“Without a shadow of a doubt,” she says quietly, “because you left the fight to save me.”

**#26 – Goodbye**

“But I need to tell you good-bye,” she says next, and he feels like he got hit with a truck.

**#27 – Hide**

“Are you going to hide or something?” he asks.

**#28 – Fortune**

She lets go of his hand and touches his face, and he realizes he'd give up a fortune to have done this earlier, to have told her, to have her stay.

**#29 – Safe**

“It's just not safe here, not really,” she says.

**#30 – Ghost**

There's a ghost of a smile on her face, kind of sad, kind of wistful, and he hates it.

**#31 – Book**

“I can read you like a book, Kurosaki, and you're going to want to protect me, but I don't want to be kept in a cage or something.”

**#32 – Eye**

There's a sheen to her eye, like she wants to cry but won't let herself, and he's searching for the words to tell her that he needs her to stay.

**#33 – Never**

“I will never put you in a cage or keep you tied down somewhere or anything like that, I promise, just please don't go,” he says quietly.

**#34 – Sing**

She looks for a moment like she wants to stay, wants to sing in happiness, and it's squashed again and he'll continue to do or say whatever it takes to get her to stay.

**#35 – Sudden**

And then suddenly she miles again, and he's confused, because she just looked so sad a moment ago.

**#36 – Stop**

“Don't stop protecting everyone, okay?” she says, shutting her eyes.

**#37 – Time**

Time stands still for a moment, and he's thinking the worst, that she's going to die after all and he's been a complete dunce and not told her what he needs to tell her.

**#38 – Wash**

Then she shifts slightly and turns to him and asks “Can you get me something to wash this make-up off my face?”

**#39 – Torn**

He's torn between getting upset because he was thinking the worst and being incredibly grateful that it wasn't the worst, and he nods before getting up and getting her a few wet paper towels.

**#40 – History**

After a few moments the make-up is history and she looks clean and it would be hard to imagine her being at least a teenager, if not slightly older; she looks just like him, and he finds he likes it.

**#41 – Power**

“Use your powers to keep everyone safe, me included, as long as you don't smother me or something,” she says, looking at him intently.

**#42 – Bother**

“You wouldn't have bothered with all that training and transferring your powers and all of that if you didn't think I'd do that,” he points out.

**#43 – God**

“Besides, now that I'm a substitute shinigami again and I have the Fullbring powers you don't need to worry.”

**#44 – Wall**

She looks past him at the wall and those tears start to leak from the corners of her eyes.

**#45 – Naked**

He looks at her and she looks self-conscious, almost like she's naked, and he reaches for her hand again and squeezes it, getting a squeeze back.

**#46 – Drive**

He'll drive out that self-consciousness however it takes until she's comfortable around him, completely and fully, he promises himself.

**#47 – Harm**

“I won't let anyone or anything hurt you if I can stop it, even me,” he promises solemnly.

**#48 – Precious**

The look of hope in her eyes is a wonderful sight to see, more precious than all the gems in the world, and he grins at her and gets a warm smile and a nod in return.

**#49 – Hunger**

And then it's all interrupted by the grumble of her stomach, and she blushes and says “I guess I'm hungry.”

**#50 – Believe**

He laughs and squeezes her hand one more time, promising to get food, believing that when he comes back they can sit down and _really_ talk, and maybe the outcome of this fight won't just be getting rid of a powerful opponent but gaining a good relationship as well. 


End file.
